Chuck vs Sarah's Best Friend
by aRegularJo
Summary: Because no weekend that begins with him finding Carina in his bed is going to be ordinary, Chuck decides.
1. Chapter 1

Hi all! I promise I'm still working on Ties That Bind, but this idea just popped into my head and wrote itself pretty quickly. PLEASE review! Thanks!

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"Ow! Watch where you throw things!"

Startled, Chuck jumped back (okay, he yelped a little too). "Carina!" he yelled, staring, aghast, at the sleepy, lingerie-clad spy in his bed. "Watch where you _sleep_! You know this is _my_ room, right? Not Morgan's?" he snarked, finally recovered. Morgan hadn't been able to stop a total shit-eating grin for a month after Carina's last visit. It had made Chuck physically ill.

"Of course, Chucky," she mumbled, pushing a sleep mask up her forehead. "There are plenty of suckers-in-love photos in case I was confused. Cute place, by the way. Very domestic."

Ignoring her taunts, he said, "Why are you sleeping in my bed? Why are you sleeping in my bed _at three p.m._ in no clothes?"

"You've seen me in less," she retorted, standing up and running her fingers through her hair. Okay, yes, but not much less. The silky black nightie she had on was cut dangerously low on top and impossibly high on the bottom. "And I'm here for a mission. You and Sarah and John are going to help me. I just got in and felt like a nap."

"And yet, we still haven't answered the biggest question: Why are you _in my bed_?"

She lifted one shoulder carelessly, elegantly. "I always stay with Sarah when I'm visiting. It's our tradition." An overstuffed brown leather suitcase in the corner finally caught his eye. She really wasn't kidding.

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes at her roundabout, indirect reasoning, he sighed, "OK. Why don't you get dressed, and when Sarah gets back we'll figure this out."

"Figure what out?" Sarah asked from behind him. Of course. He turned to see her unwinding iPod earphones from around her neck. She'd been on a run, clad only in an extremely sweaty turquoise sports bra and black spandex capris.

"Hey honey," he said, turning to peck her on the lips but careful to avoid getting sweat on his clothes. "Look who dropped by!"

"Carina! Oh my god," Sarah said, stepping forward and hugging her friend gingerly to avoid transferring sweat. "How've you been? And why are you in pajamas?" Chuck snorted at that description.

"I just got in from Tokyo; I'm a little jet-lagged," Carina pouted. "Chuck has requested that I get dressed, though."

"How unreasonable of him," Sarah remarked sardonically, but her smile gave her true feelings away — she was thrilled to see Carina. "Alright, why don't you get dressed, and I'll take a shower, and Chuck, why don't you see if Casey's home and if Carina can stay in his extra room because yes, sweetie, I love you but you're not staying in here."

"If the two of you aren't going to be any fun, I figured I could take Martin's room. Please don't make me go stay with John _Casey_," Carina pouted and, as usual, Chuck couldn't tell if she was serious or not.

Exchanging oh-my-god raised eyebrows with Chuck, Sarah bit her lip before saying, "Yeah, _Morgan _is dating Casey's daughter. So I think that would be a bad idea on a lot of levels."

Carina appeared mildly surprised for a second, but then recovered. "I guess we have a lot to catch up on," she finally said. "Chucky, when you're checking in with Johnny, pick up a bottle of wine too. Pinot."

Recognizing that it was better not to argue — and that they already had several bottles of pinot, as it was Sarah's favorite as well — Chuck kissed Sarah again before heading over to Casey's.

Not totally surprisingly, Alex answered the door. "Hey, Alex," he smiled. "How's the LSAT studying coming?"

"Not bad, but I'll be _very_ happy when it's over," she laughed. "Hey, Dad, Chuck's here."

Casey was at the dining room table, going over mission reports. Alex sat across from him, flash cards and study guides spread on her half of the table. "Yeah, Bartowski? What's up?"

He sighed. "Well, when Sarah and I were both out this afternoon, guess which one of our … lovable old friends slash wild-child prodigal-daughter coworkers broke into our house and decided to sleep in our bed and eat our porridge?"

Alex's brow crinkled. "Was that a Goldilocks joke? Because it was _really_ bad."

"Carina's back in town?" Casey's eyebrows shot up.

"Yep. Apparently we're supposed to help her with … something."

"Lovely," Casey grunted. "This gossip couldn't wait till the boss lady brought it up on Monday?"

"See, because Carina 'always stays with Sarah' when she drops in, she didn't get a hotel. But _our_ place is full so …"

"No. Absolutely not. Stick her on your couch. She's very flexible."

"Casey, come on. Prague was years ago. Please?"

"What happened in Prague?" Alex asked with a smirk.

"Nothing happened in Prague. Ever," Casey said firmly. "Sorry Chuck, can't. Alex is staying over tonight. Darn." He snapped his fingers.

"No, John, I'm staying at _Morgan_'_s_ tonight," Alex said in a practiced tone. "This coworker can use the extra room here. Sleeping on a couch sucks." The incredible, absurd awkwardness of the moment finally sank in for Chuck, and he stared at his feet, grinning, and wondered whether Casey would actually explain the entire situation to his daughter.

"You can't ask Ellie?" Casey said.

"Ellie and Carina? Will hate each other." Casey grunted in acknowledgment.

"John, really, I'm staying at Morgan's tonight. We're going out to dinner at seven and then I'm not coming back. Besides, it'd be rude not to let her stay here," Alex insisted, with a hint of a smirk.

Casey was literally speechless. Seeing his opportunity, Chuck said, "Great, great, I'll send her over in a bit," before darting out.

That was close.

Carina and Sarah were both in the kitchen when he returned, both thankfully dressed (well, he was thankful Carina was clothed); Carina apparently explaining her latest mission — gunrunners in Thailand, apparently — to Sarah. It involved a motorcycle shoot-out through the streets of Taipai and some underaged prostitutes.

"Hey Chuck," Sarah said. "We were just about to mix up some mojitos, you want?"

"I'm good but you might as well make a batch; Alex is coming over later tonight." Alex adored mojitos.

"Alex is John's daughter?" Carina asked. "This sounds so amusing. I want to see his parenting in action."

"Yeah, about that," Chuck said nervously. "Casey's still having a few new-daddy nerves, and Morgan and Alex haven't been dating that long, and so if you could be … yourself, but less … _you_ when you meet her, that'd be really helpful."

"Whatever do you mean, Chucky?" she asked innocently.

"It means it's probably better if you don't mention that you've slept with both Morgan and Casey in front of Alex," Sarah said, grinding the mint.

Carina looked mildly affronted again. "Fine, I'll behave as long as I get to meet her."

"Don't worry, she'll probably be at brunch tomorrow," Chuck said.

"Brunch?" Carina asked, not even trying to hide her disdainful skepticism.  
"We all do brunch together on Sundays," he replied. "It's a tradition."

The girls traded a look, with Sarah finally saying, "OK, go ahead. Say it."

"You're hopeless, Walker," Carina sighed. "Just for that, we're having a girls' night tonight, just like back in college. You still remember what going out _is_, right?"

"Whoa, back up, college?" Chuck asked.

"What, you think Sarah just puts up with me because we're both _agents_?" Carina turned to him. "Please, that gets you two, maybe three, favors tops. It's the holding each other's hair after frat parties that counts."

"I'll note that I did most of the holding back then," Sarah retorted, pouring Chuck a mojito despite his earlier demurral. At Chuck's look, she said, "What? I haven't told you how Carina and I met?"

"No, I think I've missed this particular origin story." She'd only ever mentioned that the CIA at introduced the two of them.

"We were roommates. All four years of Harvard," Carina said, biting hard into a lime. Chuck choked on his drink. "What? Women can be smart, Chuck."

"I'm dating Sarah, you don't think I know that? But you … went to class, studied, hit the bars on Thursday?" He tried picturing Carina in sweatpants and Uggs, dozing through a math lecture. He failed, but it was damn funny to try.

"Carina was hitting them Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays too," Sarah laughed. "But yes — we were both pre-tapped agents, so we lived together."

"I'm just trying to picture you two karate-chopping handsy frat boys," Chuck said, grinning.

"Weren't you one of those handsy frat boys?" Sarah shook her head.

"No, no, not handsy. Completely respectful. All the time," Chuck spluttered.

"Please. Like you knew where to put those hands."

"Believe me, he does," Sarah replied in her sweetest voice, which was actually completely scary and fake-sounding. Chuck choked on his mojito again and she thwacked him on the back.

"Even though Sarah was a fuddy-duddy and actually did her schoolwork, we managed to have some fun," Carina said, thankfully ending that train of conversation. "Never would have guessed that less than ten years later you'd be a suburban housewife, though, Walker." She smiled wryly, and Sarah rolled her eyes.

"We keep guns in the sofa, I don't think we're quite there yet," Sarah said, though she was wiping down the counter as she said that (which Chuck appreciated).

"The things you learn about people," Chuck murmured.

"We can just all go to a movie or something low-key tonight," Sarah said, looking directly at him over her glass. "We've had a long week, Carina," she explained.

"No, you two should go out and catch up. I'll just hang out with Awesome and watch … soccer or something. I might even do some of that "paperwork" you keep mentioning, though I'm still not sure on the concept."

"Are you sure?" Sarah asked, but there was an undeniable sparkle in her eye.

"Come on, sweetie. You haven't had a night out in months, and sounds like we're going to get a big mish soon."

"Not the word 'mish' again, please," she laughed, kissing him lightly. "I thought we retired that."

"Nope. So, Carina, what will we be working on with you this week?"

"Finally," Carina huffed. "Alright, this is what we've got …"


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks so much for all the reviews! I've been super busy and haven't had a chance to reply but I promise I will. This story doesn't have any overall direction or bent; it's just a fun romp, and so I'm just seeing where it takes me. Let me know what you think!

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"How do I look?" Sarah asked, several hours later, zipping her feet into her strappiest shoes as she tripped down the hall. She and Chuck went on plenty of missions, with plenty of opportunities to dress up, but it was the first night in a long time that she was going _out_. Carina, in charge as always, had decreed that they were going to go to a too-trendy lounge, where their legs and low-cut dresses would be enough to get them in, and they would drink $30 Long Island Iced Teas and dance and shoot schmucks down. Sarah had rolled her eyes — non-work-related "dates" with Chuck these days usually involved the couch, Chinese takeout, and wine or a yuppie couple's adventure with Ellie and Devon — but she was pretty damn excited to do a girls' night Carina-style again.

Chuck, on the couch with _Charade_ on the big screen, turned to see what she'd chosen to wear. She shivered under his gaze. There was something in the way that Chuck could just _… appreciate_ the way she looked in a dress. It wasn't objectifying, wasn't leering, wasn't moony, wasn't pathetic … it was just appreciative. It was nice. And, every time he gave her the once-over, it made her feel like they were still new.

"You look great," he finally said.

She smiled. "_Charade_, huh? Trying to tempt me to stay in?"

He laughed. "It just arrived from Netflix. I promise we can watch it again tomorrow."

"Good," she grinned, picking up her purse. "We shouldn't be out too late."

"No, stay out," he said, rising and moving to her. "Work's been crazy and when it's not work we're at a vineyard or antiquing or some other activity that Carina's going to mock." He fingered the emerald strap of her dress. "Is this new?"

"No, and you've seen it before, too," she smacked him lightly with the purse before kissing him. "Just for future reference, I kind of enjoy the farmer's market scene." Three years ago, she would have never, ever imagined herself saying something like that but it was true.

"Have you tried the peaches that Awesome dropped off this morning yet? Delicious," he murmured, running his fingers down her arm before linking their hands.

"Oh, really? Maybe we'll use them tomorrow for brunch," she leaned in for a kiss, deepening it immediately.

They were interrupted quickly, though, by Carina coming down the hallway — she'd insisted on getting ready with Sarah instead of staying put at Casey's. "Let's go, Walker," she said firmly. "First you banish me to John's and now you're trying to make me late."

Laughing a little, Chuck rested his forehead on hers. "Yeah, Sarah, you're making Carina late."

Before she could retort, Carina clapped her hands, once, twice. Laughing more, Sarah kissed Chuck once more before releasing him. Carina grabbed her hand, and Sarah waved flirtatiously to Chuck as her friend manhandled her out the door. Carina pushed Sarah toward the curb and an idling taxi, and the fact that her friend had actually called a taxi ahead of time so that Sarah would truly leave made Sarah laugh harder.

She finally quieted down a few minutes later, as they were in the car. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "I may have been trying to irritate you, just a little."

"So the sucker-in-love thing was just an act then?" Carina said skeptically. "Sarah, even you're not that good."

"Well, no," she admitted. "That's … not an act at all."

"Well, I'm glad to see you happy again at least," Carina said. "I hadn't seen you actually smile since Bryce died."

At Carina's blunt, unexpected honesty, she looked down, suddenly mildly embarrassed. She shrugged. "He's good for me."

They arrived at Les Deux twenty minutes later, and quickly found an empty chaise in the courtyard. "So you're just here through the end of the mission?" Sarah asked, her voice slightly raised over the din of the music.

Carina smiled triumphantly. "Ah-ha! I knew you were bored."

"I'm not bored," Sarah insisted. "But I miss you. Where have you been, what have you been doing?"

"Well, there was Thailand, before that, Indonesia, Brazil … but mostly Asia for the last year, really. Next mission is unfortunately in _Bali_, not sure how I'm going to tolerate that." She laughed and waggled her eyebrows.

Of course, it wasn't long before men started sending drinks their way. They all did a little touch-the-head wave as they did it, forcing her to make eye contact. Sarah accepted them with a hint of guilty resignation, which Carina noticed immediately. "Relax, Walker, accepting a drink doesn't count as _cheating_," she ordered. "So, you. You _really_ just stay here permanently, and you're what? A glorified analyst who can kick anyone's ass?" Carina's half-sexpot-half-airhead façade — which so few people ever realized was actually just a persona — was completely gone, replaced by her shrewd, tough-as-nails, I-double-majored-in-chemistry-and-Russian-at-Harvard-and-like-to-kick-ass voice.

"We're just based here. We do a lot of field work," Sarah defended. "I've been to Buenos Aires, Iceland, and Riyadh this month. Plus we're doing some longer-range stuff — we're probably adding a few agents permanently here. I'll kind of … direct things, with all of them." They were quietly mining Mr. Bartowski's old files as well, which was excellent.

"And you're happy?" Carina pressed. "Not just _happy-with-Chuck_ happy, but happy? You never _wanted_ this — the settling down. I find it disgusting, personally — especially because you're both just two _saps_ — but you _never_ mentioned wanting this. Ever, Sarah. And Chucky looks like he's two seconds away from proposing, and you look like you're three seconds away from saying yes."

"Nobody's proposing to anybody," Sarah protested weakly, though it had been weighing pretty heavily on both their minds since Costa Gravas. She meant what she'd told his sleeping form, too: If he asked, she'd say yes. She couldn't quite actually picture herself doing the white-dress whole-life thing, but if she was going to do it with anyone it was going to be him.

"Yet," Carina said. Grabbing Sarah's arm so she knew her friend is paying attention, she says, "Look, that's great and you two are cute and all. But someone needs to ask you if you want this or if it's just comfortable, and _then_ someone needs to ask if you're out of your mind because you _know_ the risks and what you both could lose." Carina's eyes widened imploringly as she studied Sarah. "You know how badly this could end — probably will end. You're a realist, Walker. _Be_ a realist. I'm not worried because you're in _love —_ but because you know better than this."

"Maybe, but I'm not an adrenaline junkie," she said. "I … _like_ the excitement and I love the feeling of a mission gone right and being the best, but I don't crave the life-or-death stakes," she paused. "I'm a great agent because I'm a perfectionist. You're a great agent because you're not afraid. I don't need that aspect of the job to love it like you do."

"That was perceptive," Carina said after a beat. "True, though. You always were such a rules-follower," she smiled.

"Just because I didn't sleep with a TA to get out of lab doesn't make me a rules-follower," she laughed. "Listen. I _know_ I … broke your cardinal rule of spying. I … _know_ that it limits me as a field agent. I _know_ that a million bad things could happen to either of us, and that scares me so much that some nights I can't sleep. But Chuck … makes me less afraid. I can't explain it, but he makes me want to be a better person, and I think that translates to being a better agent."

Carina studied her for a second. "Better make you a better agent," she said, knocking back a shot. "Because if you die, Walker, I will bring you back just to kill you again."

Sarah laughed and smiled at Carina. Although Carina didn't want to admit it, the redhead had mellowed and grown up a little, too. They'd had a rocky few years — Chuck's first meeting with Carina had been at the bottom of that particular low point — but they'd both moved past it, and it felt good to be back in sync with her best friend. There was too much history there for them not to get along. Carina had been her first partner, even before Bryce, and teaming up against the perils of college (such a foreign and unfriendly environment for anyone, especially two young women prohibited from forming those glorified lifelong, profound friendships).

"Now," Carina said, arranging her shot glasses neatly in front of her. "Let's go get more losers to buy us drinks. Next time I blow through this desert wasteland, you'll have some big gaudy diamond on your finger, making it officially impossible to have any fun out."

Rolling her eyes, Sarah grinned and followed Carina back toward the bar.


End file.
